E is for Enjoy: Making Sure the Business Is Actually Worth It

There’s a point in a lot of conversations where the numbers and operations are looking better, and I’ll change the question.

We’ve talked about revenue, profit, systems, time.

Then I’ll ask:

“How does it actually feel to run this business right now?”

Sometimes there’s a pause.

Sometimes there’s a polite “yeah, it’s… fine”.

Sometimes there’s a list of things they miss: evenings, health, proper time off, feeling present at home.

It’s very possible to:

• Improve the financials

• Add structure and systems

• Create more capacity

…and still not feel how you hoped it would feel.

You’ve solved some business problems, but not the life problem.

Enjoyment doesn’t arrive on its own

There’s a quiet assumption many owners carry:

“If I can just get the business to this level – that number, that team size, that stability – then I’ll feel better.”

In my experience, that rarely happens by itself.

Enjoyment has to be treated as deliberately as your strategy, pricing, or systems.

When I’m working with a client, we often pause and look at things through a different lens:

• What does “a good life” actually look like for you in practical terms?

• Where is the business currently supporting that – and where is it undermining it?

• What are two or three non‑negotiables you’re willing to protect?

That might look like:

• Evenings that aren’t absorbed by email

• Being present at certain family moments

• A small but regular block of time for your own health or interests

• A limit on when and how clients can access you

These aren’t soft, fluffy add‑ons. They’re design constraints for how you shape the business.

How I think about Enjoy with clients

In practice, it often looks like:

• Getting specific, not vague

• Not “more time with family”, but “I want to protect dinner at home four nights a week”.

• Checking alignment

• Does the way we currently sell, deliver, and communicate make that easier or harder?

• Setting a handful of boundaries

• Not 20 rules you’ll never keep – two or three clear standards that matter.

From there, SCALE becomes not just a way of building a cleaner, more profitable, less owner‑dependent business… but a way of making sure that business actually supports the life you had in mind when you started.

A final reflection

Look 12–24 months ahead and ask yourself:

“What’s one very ordinary thing in my personal life that I want to be non‑negotiable – something the business shouldn’t be allowed to take away from me?”

Write it down.

As you rethink Strategy, Capacity, Amplifying Profits and Leveraging Systems, keep that in view.

It’s a good test of whether the changes you’re making are truly moving you in the right direction.